Nearly 2 years' jail for man who committed voyeurism against 2 stepdaughters

A thief arrested in 2024 found himself in deeper trouble after authorities discovered that he had used his mobile phone to record multiple videos of his two stepdaughters in a bathroom of their home.

At the time of the offences, the younger girl was 12 years old, while her older sister was between 16 and 17 years old.

On May 5, the 44-year-old man was sentenced to one year, 11 months and 15 days' jail after he pleaded guilty to three counts of voyeurism involving the two girls.

Separately, he had also stolen items such as a woman's undergarments and admitted to two theft charges.

He cannot be named due to a gag order to protect his stepdaughters' identities.

The man had earlier served a jail sentence for a drug-related offence.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Samuel Chew said that in 2001, the man was sentenced to three years' jail over the offence. Details of that case were not disclosed in court documents.

For the current case, the court heard that the man married the girls' mother in 2019 and moved into their Housing Board flat near Bedok Reservoir Road.

Over multiple occasions between January and September 2022, he snapped 21 photographs of his older stepdaughter using a toilet in their home.

He also took five pictures of her sleeping in a bedroom while in various states of undress.

Over nine occasions from December 2022 to July 2023, he snapped four photographs and recorded five videos of the girl using a toilet.

DPP Chew said: "For the photographs and videos taken of her in the toilet, the accused admitted that he recorded these contents through a gap in the door. The accused further admitted to knowing that the (girl) did not consent to...being recorded."

Using a similar method, the man also targeted his younger stepdaughter on July 23, 2023 while she was in a bathroom.

The authorities later found three voyeuristic videos on his phone showing the younger victim, the court heard.

The offences were discovered during an investigation into his theft case in 2024.

Shortly before midnight on Feb 22, 2024, the man was at a block of flats when he spotted two bras worth nearly $120 in total outside a unit.

He stole the undergarments that belonged to a 29-year-old woman, and subsequently got rid of them.

Her father alerted the police five days later, and the man was arrested that month.

The offender told investigators that he was returning home from work on the day of the offence when he "heard a voice" telling him to go to the woman's block of flats.

He claimed that he committed theft as he was feeling "stressed from work".

Officers screened his mobile phone and found that he had made voyeuristic recordings of multiple victims, including his two stepdaughters, between 2018 and 2024.

Despite this, the man struck again on Aug 19, 2024 when he stole a 41-year-old woman's dress worth around $15 that was hanging outside her flat.

DPP Chew said: "He claimed to have done so as he was angry at his first ex-wife, who left him when he was previously in prison.

"The accused thus believed that, by taking the dress, he was 'taking revenge against women'. The accused subsequently disposed of the dress, and it was not recovered."

The woman's husband made a police report, and the offender was charged in court in 2024.